


Mellifluous

by notreserenade



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Light Swearing, Longing, Slow Burn, mentions of semi-dramatic childhoods, they're one year apart in this!, this is going to be very very sappy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2019-04-03
Packaged: 2019-08-21 01:43:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16567220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notreserenade/pseuds/notreserenade
Summary: Two childhood friends try to find the right timing to find each other while meeting various obstacles (Kageyama) along the way.





	1. her at sixteen

**Author's Note:**

> Previously titled as "Same Time, Same Place".
> 
> This pair is so cute and under-appreciated and I'm sad because you guys are missing out!
> 
> Any feedback at all is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for stopping by. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're so cruel to me. Why is that?"

"Why are childhood friends always so dramatized by media all the time?" Oikawa asks with a chip in his mouth and arms around Yachi, whose frame is so small that she could barely breathe from her friends' heavy weight.

The two of them were spending an evening like they always did. Lights out, television on with some wacky drama or movie, and lots of junk food. This had become a routine that the two of them shared whenever their parents weren't home. Being children of working parents, it only became natural for them to spend lots of time with each other. Hobbies, funny stories and memories become intertwined, and sooner than anyone would expect, their childhood would be filled with memories of the two of them running around in dirt together. Trying to cook together. Secretly eating ice cream during winter.

But now that they were both teenagers, the complete innocence of just being happy while spending time with each other was a bit clouded.

Emotions were no longer as narrow as just happy or sad.

There was now the feeling of liking, and being liked. Although Yachi had never properly experienced the feeling of being liked, Oikawa certainly had. Being tall and charming, nice to everyone and smiling all the time, it wasn't very hard to fall for him. Yet, as someone as close to him as Yachi was, it's funny to think how this is how a lot of girls would love to be spending their Friday evening. Not that she minded herself. She rather enjoyed their time together. But, again, as someone who knew Oikawa Tooru, there'd be details about his day-to-day life that would probably scare off girls who'd only seen him as Mr. Prince Charming.

If only they knew, she'd think with knitted eyebrows, how petty he was when it came to money. Or how annoyingly clingy he was after practice; always throwing his sweaty socks around his room and entering her house with only boxers and a cheeky grin as if he was already fixated on spending his time relaxing by annoying his childhood friend next door. 

"Beats me. Girls and guys are destined to never be able to have a proper platonic relationship, I guess." Yachi replies to him after her little rant in her head whilst her mouth was equally filled with chips as her hands were.

Oikawa eyes Yachi side-ways, and sighs at the sight of how annoyingly comfortable Yachi was around him.

She was so different around him compared to how she was outside of their little bubble (or social sanctuary, as she had called it). She was so careful and sweet and nervous whenever she wasn't alone with him. The outside world knew so little of her sarcastic comments, or how passionate she was about coupons at the supermarket. The smallest things that made her personality so versatile and subtly wonderful to hang around with always seemed to be overshadowed by her insecurity and shaky nervousness that she carried around. 

"But you and I have never been through any major car accidents, memory loss or weird family drama. Maybe that's what we need, you know, to get the full experience." Oikawa mutters as he tries to meet her eyes, but turns away with no luck as she was too concentrated on the movie the two of them had picked randomly from Yachi's collection of weird alien movies. Apparently, the movie that they were watching had some weird twist of the two main characters actually being aliens whilst simultaneously being childhood friends turned lovers.

A little ironic, he thinks.

"We totally should!" Yachi replies him with an overdramatically excited expression. "We should start tomorrow by having you run in front of traffic."

Yachi delivers the end of her sentence with a poker-face, earning a pout and even harder grip from Oikawa as he whines to her, "You're so cruel to me. Why is that?" 

Using both of her hands to break free from his firm grip, she answers him with a tight voice from his heavy weight. "'Cause you're annoying."

Oikawa lets her break free from his grip and chuckles at her high-pitched squeak. As much as it had frustrated him, it also relieved him selfishly that there was a side of her that only he got to see. The face of Yachi falling asleep groggily on his sofa. The way her eyes sparkles upon the sight of cake. The way her hair bounces up and down when she's trying to fight for her life on getting that one pack of leek that's only on sale for twenty minutes. He adores him so much that he wants to give her morning kisses, and snuggle with her during cold winter mornings, and-

"Oh my  _god._ Green slime is coming out of his nose. Look Tooru!" Yachi laughs, breaking Oikawa from his train of thought. His eyes shift to the television and there is indeed green slime coming out of the man's nose. 

He sighs. 

\------

Oikawa Tooru was quite the lady-charmer. He had a way with his words that, although never intentionally, made girls swoon over the simplest things that he did. Maybe it was his naturally friendly exterior or the way he'd wear a smile on his lips even during times that he found to be difficult. Either way, girls seemed to love him, and for a while, Yachi hated herself for falling into the very same loop of such girls. She felt like she had somehow succumbed to the stereotype of every single girl not being able to resist the charms of her childhood friend, and she absolutely despised it. She didn't want to feel like she was any other girl. Except she  _wasn't,_ of course. None of the girls that had approached her friend knew of the boy's snotty past as a cowardly ten-year-old who refused to enter a room because of the presence of a cockroach, or that he'd from time to time sneakily put an extra bag of chips into Yachi's shopping basket so that she could pay for his share too. 

Perhaps it was puberty, she had assured herself over and over again, that made her become infatuated by the very same guy that made her smell his armpits after matches that he had won (he insists it's for her good luck). 

And yet, despite all the things about him that annoyed her to death, she still loved him. It was weird, she'd think, how she'd be put in the same category as every other girl who had feelings for Oikawa when her reasons for liking him differed from theirs. She didn't love him for his looks, or how charismatic he was on the court, or for his smile that he'd flash every single person he meets.

Or maybe she did, but she also loved how passionate, how honest,  _how loving_ he was towards the things he cared about. How attentive he was. How detailed and thorough he was. How-

The list could go on and on, and upon realizing that her feelings would do the same, she decided to hide them. Unlike the girls that were constantly trying to touch and talk to him, she'd instead become expertly good at masking her feelings for him through snarky comments and eye-rolling at his jokingly flirtatious teasing. And as time went by, _much to her own relief,_ Yachi was able to store away her feelings. The one thing that would cure her overwhelming want to be someone special to him, she's been told, was to distance herself from him. That way, she'd be able to set her emotions aside in order to let them fade with time.

And so with that in mind, Yachi felt like entering Karasuno would be a fitting solution to her problem. One that Oikawa was apparently not very approving of, considering how much he'd been whining about it ever since he found out about her plan of choosing a high school that he wasn't attending, even going as far as to bugging her the whole way to her entrance exam.

"I can't believe you don't want to be together with me." he'd exclaimed over and over again while slowing Yachi down in an attempt to make her late.

It was a nice day. The wind was blowing lightly in Yachi's hair, and the nervousness that was in the air with thoughts of "what-ifs" upon the chances of entering the students' desired high schools was a bit comforting for Yachi to remind herself that she wasn't the only one who was nervous.

At least not today.

But then again, Oikawa's presence was quite comforting, too. Sure, he was being a whiny little shit as he usually was, but she knows that he's holding up to this façade even more so today to calm her down. As his presence always did whenever they were amongst a lot of people.

"You're too loud," Yachi says to Oikawa with her sternest voice, but ends up cracking a smile across her lips. "Don't you have classes?" 

"People are taking exams at my school, so no classes for me. Which, by the way, we should be walking towards ins-"

"No." 

Oikawa deflates and puts both of his arms on Yachi's head as they walk forward, each step matching by the same rhythm.

"You're so stubborn," he mutters under his breath as he thinks of all the boys who he now won't be able to save Yachi from. Not that she needed any saving considering how fast Yachi was able to run away from things that she sensed danger from, but she was so, incredibly _dense_ sometimes that Oikawa couldn't help but to worry.

Yachi moves his arms with her hands and looks up to him with a sheepish grin, and just when Oikawa's heart is about to burst, she pushes two fingers up his nose. 

"A plus for effort, but we're already outside Karasuno. Now  _head back_ , and I'll see you tonight, okay?" Yachi says with a scrunched up nose and an eyebrow raised. She always did this when she'd try to sound serious. It never worked with Oikawa (or on anyone for that matter), but knowing where she was getting at, he sighs and makes a phone with his hand. "Call me when you're done, okay?"

"What are you? My mom?"

Yachi earns an eye-roll from Oikawa, which she laughs at. "Alright, I got it, mom. Now head back."

"I will."

"Then do."

"After I've witnessed with my own eyes that you've properly betrayed my heart."

And with that, she walks through the entrance of Karasuno. She waves back at him, half-excitedly, half-annoyingly for him to go away.

Oikawa sighs and looks at his hands, wondering whether he should've just carried her away from here instead of trying to use his words alone. Declaring defeat in his mind, he turns around, only to see the annoying (and annoyed) face of Kageyama Tobio.


	2. him at seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Okay."

 Yachi Hitoka was a betrayer. A heart-crushing, self-absorbed, heartless girl who liked to step all over Oikawa's heart while laughing her evil laugh. At this very moment upon reveal, Oikawa felt like his heart was getting ripped out of his chest. The utter  _betrayal_ that Yachi has dared to commit! The- the  _hurt!_   _The pain!_ How could she be so calm, sitting on the floor with half her body hidden in a kotatsu like that? Such a cheater she was, being all cute and cozy without a hint of mercy in her eyes.

"You didn't tell me that you're Karasuno's manager," Oikawa says as he gets down to his knees and puts his water bottle on top of Yachi's head. "You're a shame to this family. Get out of the house." 

Yachi laughs. The two of them were spending one of their usual evenings at her house. It's been a few months since Yachi was accepted to Karasuno, and although Oikawa greatly disliked that fact that she was walking into the same space, sharing the same air and meeting the same faces as Kageyama Tobio, he could do nothing but take it as a hard pill to swallow. Besides, with a lot of assuring from Yachi, not to mention her bribes in the form of food every now and then (what is she, a gangster?), it seemed that at the end of the day, Yachi enjoyed going to school, which really was all that mattered.

She was never the type to make a lot of friends, let alone independently socialize with people that she didn't know. For her to take her own steps surely must've meant a lot to her. He'd know, of course. And so, in attempt to be content with the whole situation, Oikawa had over these past few months tried to assure himself that if she was okay, then there's no real reason for him to fret.

After all, if she was starting to be more comfortable in her own skin, or at least taking the steps into becoming so, he should be proud of his tiny baby chick of a friend whom he loved so much. And yet, even though he knew this better than anyone, the comfort of getting to see her whenever, the comfort of being in the same space together... it was time that was so easily forgotten but so familiar. Especially since now that he was a second-year in high school, he felt even more so that if he didn't take in whatever moments they could have together before he left for college, he'd miss out on Yachi.

He'd miss out on Yachi on her first trip. He'd miss out on Yachi making new friends. He'd miss out of Yachi getting good grades. How miserable would he be by then? He shudders at the thought.  

A forward step too much, or two missteps backward. That's what it felt like when it came to Yachi for Oikawa nowadays. He held his closeness to her so dear, but never would he forgive himself for preventing her to be whom she truly was to become. 

But at the end of the day, Oikawa Tooru was a hypocrite, and really just wants Yachi away from the dirt of this world. Now that she'd be seeing Kageyama Tobio more often, and no less than a kilometer away in distance from each other, he was terrified of Yachi becoming stained by Kayegama's rotten stench of an attitude.

While Oikawa's inner thoughts were going a hundred miles per hour, Yachi, on the other hand, was calmly drawing a poster for Karasuno's volleyball team, which also happens to be the very thing that has exposed her little secret that she had been keeping from her friend. Despite towering over her with all of his 184 centimeters, Oikawa could sometimes be more like a giant baby than an actual seventeen-year-old boy who could pull serves that'd rip people's arms off.

"Don't put your mind on overdrive, Tooru. You'll die." Yachi assures him as she gently pats his hand. "I didn't become their manager to make you mad or anything." 

"I'm not _mad_ ," Oikawa says with a smile as he lightly grinds his water bottle to Yachi's head evilly, who frowns and takes his water bottle away from him. "Hey."

"You're missing out on giving out water bottles to a sexy, post-match, victory-guaranteeing man such as myself," Oikawa mutters with a frown and makes a little hand-motion that moved with his body silhouette. "As someone that has known you for longer than you have ever known loyalty, I can  _guarantee_ that you're going to regret this decision with your life." 

With this, Yachi sighs and stands up from the kotatsu and turns around to face Oikawa. "Can I make an appeal, sir?" 

The sudden closeness between them wasn't anything that they hadn't experienced before. They had shared hugs, light pats, and have had cheek-grabbing moments that were far more intimate than this. And yet here Oikawa was, feeling his body tense up at the sound of how close Yachi's breath was in front of him. "G-Go on." he manages to say, trying to play it cool with closed eyes, left hand to his glasses and right hand swooping in a forward motion.

"I'll make dinner for three weeks straight if you let me explain."

"Ding! No explanation can gather the pieces of my heart that you have just shattered." 

"Tooru." Yachi huffs with a raised eyebrow. He was being so stubborn. Although she understood his reasons for disliking Kageyama, it just didn't sit right with her that she didn't get a chance to explain exactly  _why_ she decided to be Karasuno's manager. Oikawa wasn't usually this stubborn. He was usually a gentle listener and was often an emotional shelter for Yachi whenever she felt anxious (which, granted, she quite often felt). This he did perhaps a little too often and has made her a little too dependent on him than she'd like.

Oikawa peeks at Yachi with one eye and weighs on all of the possibilities that existed in her favor. 

There were none. She was doomed.

"What possible explanation would you have to make me forgive this awful sin that you have committed?" Oikawa says with a raised eyebrow at Yachi, who rolls her eyes. 

"You're Jesus now?"

"Don't change the subject," Oikawa mutters back. He looked down at her to meet her eyes, only to immediately feel his face flush upon the intense gaze that she was giving him. 

And despite the fact that Oikawa was now red to his neck, Yachi was oblivious to this as she was too occupied in waiting for her heart to find the right timing.

With a deep inhale, she tugs the hem of her shirt as she starts to explain.

"I just feel like I can be... or do a little more than-than townsperson B, you know?" she starts off. "I-I was contacted by their current manager, and what she told me was so inspiring. Things like 'wanting to do something' and 'trying something before deciding' are such obvious words to live by, and yet, somehow I felt like I was just waiting around for it to magically happen. For someone like me who has never set a hundred percent of my focus and heart to a goal... it just felt right for me to at least give myself a chance, even if it's going to be terrifying."

Yachi pauses, and mumbles under her breath, "and very hard."

Oikawa listens intently as she speaks. Yachi was the one to told him to halt his speed of mind, and yet there she was, talking in the speed of light. She wasn't very good at expressing her feelings, but that was okay because he knew. As if there's a mutual, unspoken understanding between the two of them, words often weren't needed to fully express what they wanted to say to each other. Just like the little fit that Oikawa was throwing. The both of them knew that it was all more or less a facade that gave the two of them a comfortable closeness to what they were used to acting around each other.

"-and that's why a play who allows townsperson B to take upon the huge responsibility of throwing prop tomatoes at the main character  _is bad_. Not to belittle anyone's role or anything. But like, with this opportunity, I get to _feel_ like the tomato, okay?" Yachi breathes, speaking too fast for her mind to catch up. Being someone that couldn't always express her emotions correctly she sure was a great rambler.

Yachi lightly bites her lower lip as she steals small, nervous glances at Oikawa. As someone who was so important to her, she wanted him to understand. 

_She needed him to understand._

But like she always did, she worries far too much, and most times for nothing. Upon hearing a deep sigh coming from Oikawa, she relaxes her hands that she'd been tugging her shirt with. She knew he wasn't actually furious with her or anything. She knew this from the very beginning. 

And she was right. He wasn't. In fact, he wasn't even mad. But rather, he was a bit sad. Sad that she always find the most creative ways to put herself down, and sad that he couldn't do more to make her more comfortable in her own skin.

It was so frustrating to not be able to give the world to her.

And with his emotions welling up in his chest all at once, Oikawa decides to take a small step forward.

Just for today. And just for now.

He reaches a hand to Yachi's cheek, which he guessed was flushed from either the heat of the kotatsu or her emotional speech of realization, and gives her a small smile. "Okay." 

Okay, because there's really not much needed to say.

Okay, because it really was okay. 

Okay, because he wanted her to feel okay.

And for a moment, the two of them stay like this; comfortably uncomfortable.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are you, Oikawa? Her MOM?
> 
> This chapter was so fun to write, and a little longer than the first! I hope you can feel my cries and overwhelming emotions in this chapter, because how can you not cry over this couple oh my god. Soft couple sure is frekn SOFT.
> 
> Like always, any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter :)


	3. him at ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Tooru-chan, are you alright?"

Oikawa met Yachi Hitoka for the very first time when he was nine years old.

Being a child of divorcing parents and a brother to a sister who was almost twice his age, the sole concept of 'family' strayed quite a bit from what was considered to be a traditional family. Or at least, from a loving one.

Oikawa would often observe the parents that picked his friends up from kindergarten. How lovingly they had looked at their child, and at each other. Such a foreign concept it was for little Oikawa, who only knew of the broken marriage that his parents had; endless bickering,  always ordering take-outs, no good-bye kisses before leaving work or school. No bed-time stories of brave knights or princesses. 

Nights when his parents would scream and become violent with each other became nights that made his older sister take him out to the nearest park to play on the swings, or simply wait for their parents' argument to pass at their front door.

On a particular Sunday night, their parents were at it again.

Oikawa's sister often wondered why they couldn't just divorce each other, since keeping the family together was the last thing they did as a couple. It was tiring for a nineteen-year-old to look out for a brother so young, but even more exhausting to be forced to grow up faster than other girls her age because of adults that simply couldn't grow up themselves. It was exhausting, but she had to keep it together. She wanted his brother to experience all of the things that she got to experience as a kid; loving smiles and tearful joy over simple accomplishments. The sight of their parents giving each other good-night kisses or having playful bantering over the kitchen table, teasing each other's cooking skills.

The fact that her little brother was deprived of such memories because of their parents' foolishness and selfishness made her angry.

They were missing out on Oikawa's childhood, and it was so stupid that their parents were failing to realize this. 

Because of how dark and cold it was outside, Oikawa's sister decided to wait until their parents' argument would die down by the steps of their front door. After fifteen minutes or so, the siblings, who were both staring down on the floor at the trail of ants that were following the breadcrumbs that Oikawa had left on their steps, found themselves staring at a pair of black high heels and a pair of small pink ballerina shoes that were, to both of their surprises, walking towards them.

"Are you kids alright?" the voice that belonged to the person who wore the high-heels asked, making the two siblings look up from the ground. Yachi Madoka, whose hair was curled and make-up professionally done, was wearing a black and blue-striped suit with black heels. She looked rather intimidating; like the type of woman who you'd get sued by if you were to spill your juice on her suit. Hiding behind her was a small, blonde girl whose hair was bound in small pig-tails and had eyes that flickered with agitation. _"_ Mom are they dead? They're both looking down!"  _s_ he'd whispered to her mother before they approached the siblings, which earned her an eye-roll and a light smack to her forehead.

Oikawa was a rather quiet child at the age of ten. Having had learned that speaking too much would only lead to being scolded at, Oikawa would often observe his surroundings rather intensely before deciding on how to act around people. Yachi Madoka, for example, was a loud and brutally honest woman who didn't hold back on her opinions. But despite not holding back whatever was on her mind, she was still a very nice woman, considering how she had invited the siblings over at her place despite it almost being near nine o' clock in the evening.

She'd also offered Oikawa warm milk buns, which, with all things considered, was probably the main reason why Oikawa had decided that Yachi Madoka was a good person despite her loud laughter and rude remarks.

The milk buns were  _warm,_ after all.

Yachi Hitoka, however, was a year younger, pocket-sized, and seemed absolutely terrified of him. Oikawa had a decent idea on how to approach her mother enough to perhaps score another milk bun or two for himself and his sister, but her daughter didn't seem to like him very much, and it was making it hard for Oikawa to predict exactly what he needed to do in order to befriend her. 

Oikawa and his sister were offered a seat on the sofa at their living room, and during the whole time that Oikawa was munching away on the food that her mother had further offered (tonkatsu) them, Yachi had been sitting on the edge of their sofa as if trying to create as much distance between her and Oikawa siblings as possible.

But as another hour went by, it didn't take much for Oikawa to realize that there wasn't much that he needed to do to approach Yachi since all she needed was just a little more time and some distance to calm down her nerves before she'd approach him herself. Yachi's mother, who had caught her little daughter practicing on greeting the two siblings quietly at her little corner of the sofa, let out a small chuckle and secretly whispered to Oikawa's sister, who was blissfully content by the sight of her little brother getting to eat home-made food.

"Sorry about my daughter. She's not used to be around..." Yachi Madoka turned her gaze to the little brown-haired boy and cheekily smiled, "men." 

Yachi wasn't used to be around strangers, let alone a boy that kept staring at her. Whether it was about ordering food at a restaurant or befriending kids her age, Yachi would always have to take a bit of a pause to prepare her little heart to face the people around her. People would often mistake her nerves for dislike and being rude, but truth was, she just needed slightly more time than others to adjust to new people was all. And as she slowly observed the smiling boy in front of her, who was talking so enthusiastically about random ant-facts (which Yachi's mother had successfully found out to be one of Oikawa's favourite insects because their heads resembled aliens) and praising the food that her mother had cooked for him, Yachi decided that he was probably a nice person.

The older girl seemed nice, after all, so her brother should be nice too, right?

When the siblings were finally done with their food, and with his sister helping Yachi's mother out with the dishes in the kitchen, Yachi approached Oikawa by scooping a tad bit closer to him with her favourite pencil and favourite fruit-shaped post-it notes as her weapons of choice in an attempt to initiate communication with the boy.

 _'Hello',_ she'd written on an apple-shaped post-it note, and stuck it on the table in front of him. 

Surprised by her sudden gesture, Oikawa turned around to meet her eyes but got to stare at her blushing ears instead as she'd quickly averted her gaze to her post-it notes. And before he could ask her why she couldn't just  _talk_ to him instead of passing him post-it notes, Yachi quickly scribbled on another one and stuck it on his hand.

_'I'm Yachi Hitoka. What's your name?'_

Realizing that he wasn't going to get her to actually talk to him anytime soon, Oikawa took the pencil from Yachi's small, trembling hands that she had bravely succeeded in reaching out for him, and slowly wrote down his answer under Yachi's pretty handwriting with his own, slightly sloppier one.

_Hello. I'm Oikawa Tooru._

\---

A week of post-it notes was all it took to have Oikawa look forward to going home. Before, he'd always find himself being home alone because his parents were working or his sister was at school. But now that he'd befriended the girl-next-door, he'd get to see Yachi's little ponytail sticking out her window while struggling to keep her balance on her toes as she'd stand on a chair to wave at Oikawa.

Little Oikawa, who would always let other people talk before him, gradually started speaking up more and more as he'd spent more time with Yachi at the neighborhood playground, where the bullies usually were present to pull Yachi's hair or push her in the sand.

Sometimes the bullies would say nasty things and make fun of Yachi for not having a father, which, to sister Oikawa's surprise, would make the little brown-haired boy so angry that he'd threaten them away with a stick while exclaiming that he'd beat them blind next time he'd catch them making fun of Yachi again.

Soon, the morning messages on the post-it-notes that they left for each other ('don't forget your umbrella Tooru-chan!!', 'good morning Hitoka-chan!') eventually became calls, which eventually became sharing breakfast and walking to school together.

Milk buns for breakfast and tonkatsu for dinner would be what they had whenever they'd be home alone together, almost as if it became a routine that was slowly merging into some kind of tradition. Upon realizing that the little boy's favourite food was milk buns, Yachi's mother started to stop by the bakery near her office more frequently to buy some for her daughter and the boy-next-door to share in the morning, which, to no one's surprise, earned her some serious brownie-points from Oikawa. Milk buns were, after all, Oikawa's comfort food when he was sad or happy or mad, as it would always elevate his mood by what Yachi's mother would assume a thousand as she'd witness the little boy go from a nice little gentleman to an absolutely horrifyingly hyper monkey-child.

\---

Lots of milk buns were bought for breakfast when Oikawa's parents finalized their divorce.

"Tooru-chan, are you alright?" Yachi had asked little Oikawa who'd felt Yachi's small hand patting his nest of brown curls on the day that his parents had announced that he'd be in his sister's custody instead of theirs.

He'd kept quiet during the whole ride back to the apartment, which had led for his sister to think that he was alright with their parents' decision, but It wasn't until he'd felt the familiarity of Yachi's small arms wrapped around him, who'd been patiently waiting for him to come back home for dinner, that he'd finally let his emotions overwhelm him.   


_Post-it notes._

That's what it took for Yachi to completely revolve around Oikawa's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello!
> 
> A heads up; the first chapter of this story has been rewritten. Not a lot, but enough to make me feel ashamed of its previous version. Seriously lol, I'm surprised any of you actually stuck around for a second chapter after I re-read the first one. Thank you so much if you did though, you're a gem. 
> 
> Happy new year to you all! Hopefully this year will turn out alright since we fINALLY got some news about our well-deserved fourth season of Haikyuu, and also 2018 was pretty shit for me so *fingers and toes crossed*.
> 
> As always, all feedback greatly appreciated, and see you in the next chapter!
> 
> Edit: I also changed the title and summary for this story. If you're confused (welcome to the club hurhur), this was previously titled "Same Time, Same Place".


	4. her when he's not around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "O-Oiha."

"Everyone ready?!"

Daichi's voice echoes through the gym as the Karasuno team is gathered in a circle with their arms stretched out. Although the winter cold makes one want to hide in bed while being rolled in a burrito of sheets, volleyball practice is still continued just as frequently by the requests of the passionate members on the team. The cold air that was leaking through the gym entrance has made everyone double their practice attire, and although no one had asked Yachi to do any extra work, she still came prepared with scarves and mufflers for the boys. Not that she was expecting them to spike or block in knitted clothes, but still. It’d be an absolute disaster if they were to get a cold – especially considering the fact that the Spring Tournament was just around the corner.

"Karasuno..."

"Fight-oh!" Yachi chants along quietly with the boys as she sits on the bench with their coach and third-year manager. Although it’s already been a couple months since she’s joined the team, she still felt her nerves around them. She didn’t have a reason to be considering the fact that they’ve been nothing but nice to her, but it was always like this. There didn’t need to be a reason for her nerves to act out. All it took was for her to be in a space filled with people that she’s not familiar with and she’d find herself putting her mind on overdrive.

During middle school (and pre-school for that matter), she’d always have Oikawa to calm her ridiculously loud heart in a crowd of people. Whenever they were entering the cafeteria or visiting the mall, Oikawa was always there to calm her down when she was nervous, when she felt sick, when she became afraid. A small squeeze from his hand and a nudge to her head were all it took to calm down the heavy palpitations that would drum from her chest in sync to her ears.

Yachi doesn’t quite remember a time without Oikawa. In her memories, he’d somehow always been there, whether he was beating up bullies or walking her to class.

The year Oikawa went to Aoba Josai was a very eye-opening year for Yachi. It wasn’t until she was walking to school alone, and going to class alone and—basically everything that she’d have Oikawa with her to do together that she realized that she’s been too dependent on him. It was ridiculous how she’d still see him after school and during the weekends, and yet she still felt alone. As if the void (which, granted, was quite a loud void considering it’s Oikawa Tooru) she walked around with at school just couldn’t go away until she actually got to see his face after school.

For a brief moment, after Oikawa graduated, Yachi had thought that it might’ve been nice to not have a bunch of girls following her around to ask questions about him anymore. But the moments that she’d found herself to absolutely love; the faces that he’d pull at her to make her feel more comfortable in the crowded cafeteria, or the way he’d put his palms on her shoulders to weight her down as they’d walk to class—all the small moments that she’d thought to just be moments of her day-to-day life became fleeting memories that she yearned to have again. To experience again, almost as if it was a safety blanket to cover her shaking hands and beating heart.  
  
Oikawa was her safety blanket, she’d realized then, and if she didn’t fix it soon, she might never be able to let him go. Not that she wanted to, of course, but she had to. It would’ve been selfish of her to wish for him to stay beside her because she couldn’t control her anxiety, right?

She wishes it wasn’t, though, but she knows better.  
  
Oikawa was a boy of many talents, but most importantly; he was a talented volleyball player who had so, _so much_ potential, and it would crush her if she ever became the reason for him to not be.

Yachi loved watching Oikawa play volleyball. Ever since he’d gotten to know Iwaizumi, he’d been playing volleyball as if his life depended on it. He looked so passionate, the way he’d pump his fist in the air as he’d find a beaming Yachi in the bleachers holding a “TOORU!”-sign that was almost bigger than her own body.

Although winning was great and all, Oikawa would always go out of his way for the sake of winning and resulted in a lot of ridiculous injuries for it. This, Yachi decides when she felt the sudden dread wash over her upon witnessing a bloody Oikawa on the gym floor, she _did not_ love.

It absolutely crushed her the one time he injured his knee. Oikawa Tooru; the ever-smiling, audacious childhood friend whom Yachi loved so much was crouching in a fetal position near the benches of the gym during the Spring Tournament, and as if time had stopped, Yachi felt her heart had, too. That moment had no room for worries about how the gym was so crowded or the fact that the gaze of people made her feel like they were burning holes at her neck. All she could see was _Tooru, Tooru, Tooru_ , and his pained face that he was so desperately hiding from his teammates.

That was the first time Yachi was able to forget how many people she was sharing her space with. The first time her mind completely zoomed in on Oikawa and on Oikawa only, and the first time her legs would think faster than her mind could comprehend that she was running down the bleachers to him.

There’s probably no emotion that she hasn’t seen Oikawa in. Although it might look like Oikawa was a display of emotions, moments where Oikawa felt vulnerable and out of control was nothing he’d be comfortable showing the public. It wasn’t because he cared about what others thought about him that he hid them, though – which evidently would occasionally be showcased by the absolutely hideous casual fashion sense that he had (which earned him plenty of knuckles to his face by Iwaizumi).  
  
He just felt the most comfortable to be vulnerable around Yachi, is all. To put his nose in the nape of her neck when he felt like crying, or to take in the scent of lemon and honey in her hair when he’d be overwhelmed with joy—such things put him to ease.  
  
_She_ put him to ease.  

For Yachi to start high school meant that she had the chance to be with him again. To choose Aoba Josai and relive all the moments that she’s so desperately been holding so dearly to her heart to remind her that she was going to be alright. That she was going to see him at home for dinner, and that she’ll be able to squish his face after something stupid that he’d spout at her to get her attention.

 _How foolish,_ she’d then always think, _when you’ve always had my attention._

She was so close on applying to Aoba Joisai, too. She’d even written the school on her application form, only to change it the last minute after months of pondering and keeping Oikawa in the dark of her having second thoughts of attending the same school as him.

She’d decided then, on the very last minute before turning her high school application in, that she was going to learn to be more independent. To stand more on her own feet, and to tackle whatever she was afraid of alone.

Because if she didn’t do it alone, how was she going to be able to stand beside him when he needed her support? She can’t always be on the receiving side, and jumping happily in the bleachers would only get her so far.  

So Karasuno it became— and surprisingly, it was going quite alright.  
  
Although Yachi has joined the team on countless practice matches, she can't help but become absolutely blown away every time she gets to watch the boys play. Aside from Tsukishima, whose stoicism is included in pretty much everything that he did, most of the boys in the team were so incredibly passionate and always moved with so much urgency— almost as if it'd be their last time playing on the court. And a part of that might as well be true, considering the fact that a third of the players that were regulars were third-years.

And then there was Kageyama Tobio—a hotheaded boy whose temper leveled with his volleyball talent. Although Yachi had never been close to him despite being of the same age and having had gone to the same middle school as him, she couldn’t help but notice that Kageyama always seemed to respect her childhood friend, who in turn absolutely despised him.

The way he’d snap at the raven-haired boy was surprising, to say the least, considering the fact that he’d almost never snap at anyone. Even times when his teammates would commit a rookie mistake, he’d keep himself level-headed and calmly resolve whatever problem there was to resolve.

Oikawa never liked the word talent. Yachi knows this too well, considering all the times she’d heard his parents bring it up. Being the child of parents who were well off both career-wise and academically, it was easy to assume that their child would be the same because of it. But what people didn’t know was that all that Oikawa had achieved, was all that he had achieved alone. _He_ was the one who would go straight to the gym to practice countless hours—only to defeatedly go home when Yachi would nervously peek at the gym entrance in search for him.

And so for Yachi to be a part of a rival volleyball team and also becoming acquainted with Kageyama Tobio definitely did not make Oikawa happy. But what could she do, when she was ever-so coincidentally asked by Shimizu to become their new manager-in-training? She’d taken upon a challenge that she didn’t quite have the guts for; which no less would be the definition of a challenge itself. And somehow, she’s alright with it. Because Kageyama Tobio was actually quite nice to her, and she was learning to stand on her two feet.

Alone.

Surely Oikawa would understand her. Out of all the people in the world.

"No one's going to hear your voice if you're going to chant with a quiet voice like that." a voice teases her from behind. It was Tsukishima, who would be sitting on the bench in place of Narita.

"O-Oiha." Yachi squeaks in response, not really knowing what she was trying to say. Was she agreeing? Was she disagreeing? She always had this problem when interacting with people she wasn't very close to. Tsukishima wasn’t particularly easy to get along with either, considering how much he liked to tease her height and nervous mishaps.

"Yachi-san! You mind throwing me some balls?" Kageyama requests with a wave to the bench, completely ignorant of the nagging that Tanaka was giving him in the background (“leave our manager-in-training alone!”, “throw your own damn balls son!”).

"Go. He's asking for you." Tsukishima says with a smirk as he lightly pushes her back towards the bickering mess that was Kageyama and Hinata (whom, of course, had become involved), making Yachi's ears go red.

"R-right." She squeaks, and stands to her feet to run over to the boys.

Quickly dropping her notebook and pencil to the wall of the gym, she steadies her grip of the ball that Kageyama has given her and tosses it to him with a swift throw.

A few more of those and they finally succeed in doing a quick attack, which Kageyama celebrates by excitedly patting Yachi’s shoulders. An awkward gesture no less, but quite the progress from the awkward high-fives he’s been attempting with the team (with Yachi included).

How weird it was, Yachi thinks as she observes a beaming Kageyama with a small smile, how such a simple touch made the biggest difference.

And although Kageyama Tobio wasn’t exactly Oikawa Tooru, whose presence was enough to calm Yachi down, it comforted her a little bit that the boy in front of her seemed to be making her breathe a little easier.

Maybe she was going to survive another three years without Oikawa, after all.

 


	5. them on Thursdays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Toka".

“Hitoka-san.”

There it was; the tone that Oikawa would always use whenever he’d find Yachi hiding something from him. It wasn’t a tone that he used often, so when Yachi hears it, she immediately freezes her steps.

“T-tooru-chan!” she squeaks, trying to sound as far from suspicious as she could. She’s obviously not doing a very great job, of course, considering the fact that she’s against a boy who’s known her for more than a decade. But despite the grave consequences that she was risking to face (which could be everything from being dragged out the door in the morning to _jog_ with him to being held by him around the waist in public), it didn’t stop her from trying to hide her mischief.

It was a regular Thursday. A day that people usually were neutral about since it was so close to Friday, but still bothersome nonetheless since it was a workday. For Yachi and Oikawa, it meant an early day off from school to catch up with each other. Now that they were coming home from different directions, it meant to no longer have the long walks back home together, unlike before Yachi graduated from middle school since it was quite close to Aoba Josai. Thursday was never a day that was special, but with changed events that followed the notion of time, Thursdays became a day of winding down. Of catching up each other on what they’ve been up to so far during the week—something that was once so easily done by simply seeing each other after school.

Dinners together became less frequent considering how much time Oikawa would spend with the volleyball team, and likewise for Yachi who had not expected to be so busy with club activities when joining the Karasuno volleyball team. And so, not counting the weekend, Thursday became a day of spending time with each other. And it might feel a bit extreme to some since they were, _after all,_ just friends. But to them, it was time well spent. Time that nothing else could ever replace.

So, when Yachi finds herself spending a few extra hours over at the gym with Kageyama Tobio by helping him with his serves with Oikawa being unnoticed, of course it would stir something up with the ever-so-charming brunette who, mind you, could literally send you to the hospital by throwing a ball at your face.

Normally this wouldn’t be so much of a huge deal. It wasn’t like she wasn’t going to go home, after all. But Oikawa had been away for almost ten days because of a practice camp in Tokyo and had been texting her non-stop about wanting to eat home-baked milk buns that Yachi was to _personally_ bake for him to celebrate him coming home. She had, once again, _betrayed him,_ and the look on his face lied an expression that Yachi was almost afraid of facing considering the fact that she’d so confidently assured him that she was going to _run_ straight home to greet him back.

Turning around to face her childhood friend, Yachi tries on her most innocent smile possible and attempts to bring up a completely unrelated topic of discussion.

“It’s c-cold outside, isn’t it, Tooru? Do you want any tea?”

“We’re in my house.” Oikawa says flatly with a raised eyebrow.

“We have juice!”

“Toka.”

 _Toka_. A nickname that she’d been given by him when they were both in elementary school. Not much meaning was behind it, considering that it was literally a shorter version of Yachi’s name. But to hear him call her that again overwhelms her with so much nostalgia that she almost becomes shocked by the fact that it’s her that he’s calling for. But then again, it’s always her that he’s been calling for. Whether it was another version of her name, or just a simple ‘hey’, he was always there to call for her. But Toka was a nickname that had memories behind it. Quite a lot of inside jokes, mind you, considering how it almost sounded like a play on words with Yachi’s size ( _toko?_ _Where is she?_ ), but it contained more of the memories that they had shared, and for them to suddenly flash through Yachi’s mind suddenly sends a guilty lump to her stomach.

The expression on Oikawa tells Yachi that she had no choice but to spill the beans for what was _so important_ that had made her forget about _the Thursday_. Oikawa had always been very clingy, and no less as such when it came to Yachi. And although he had never had the intention to act so, what Iwaizumi would call it, _borderline possessive,_ he can’t help but be used to the Yachi that once was. The Yachi that relied on him so much, and the Yachi who would come to him and him only when she was feeling down. And this often made him feel bad, since he felt quite selfish for being so invasive of her when she was actually doing quite well on her own. But old habits die slow, and so did the overprotectiveness that he held for her.

Letting out a small sigh, Yachi puts her jacket and scarf on the clothing rack next to the door, and enters the kitchen, where Oikawa is standing with his back leaning on the fridge. A bad choice considering how he was risking tipping over the vase beside it, but he had to do the _look_ , for, you know, reasons.

“I was with Kageyama-kun-“

Oikawa almost winces at her words as he dramatically falls over the fridge slightly. Kageyama Tobio. _Again?_ He knew that he was a part of the volleyball team, but did he really need _Yachi_ to throw her balls? Kageyama could do it himself, for all he cared.

Or he could do it for him—to his face.

“Can’t he throw his own damn balls?” he mutters under his breath, earning a small giggle from the blonde in front of her.

“Can you read without a book?”

“You know what I mean.” He frowns at her.

Patting his cheek lightly, Yachi assures him that she volunteered to help him out. “He didn’t force me or anything. It’s actually been quite fun to see him being so frustrated with the ball in his hand.”

She continues.

“It’s such a weird metaphor, you know? How he absolutely loves the ball in front of him, but at the same time, absolutely _despises_ it because he can’t fully control it.”

Having had enough of Yachi talking about _Kageyama, Kageyama,_ and some more of the raven-haired boy, Oikawa decides to punish her for coming home so late. A light jab to her ribcage turns into a full-fledged lifting her in the air as he takes in her giggles when he turns her around, only to land on top of her on the couch in the living room.

Oikawa observes the smiling girl in front of him. Her ponytail was out of her hair from his mess of lifting her up, and her gaze was so warm and words that were coming out of her mouth were all muffled in his ears because all he could stare at was her long eyelashes and soft lips that were pink from the cold air outside.

Time freezes for a few minutes. If either of them was to acknowledge that their moment was getting awkward, it would ruin the moment of how nice it was to be in each other’s presence it was for both of them.

And when Yachi breaks the silence, Oikawa’s secretly grateful that she doesn’t mention anything.

“Sorry for coming home late. I should’ve called.” She almost whispers as she puts a soft palm to his cheek, making Oikawa’s heart turn all kinds of volts in his chest.

Giving in to his rising embarrassment of how absolutely daring he had been to be on top of Yachi, Oikawa plops down to her in attempt to hide his red cheeks and ears and just overall blushing face.

“You’re crushing me- Tooru!” Yachi squeaks, but when Oikawa’s hands travel to hug her waist, she stops tugging his arm.

“Welcome home.” He whispers in her ear, his words genuine and filled with the longing that he’s had to take in the presence that was of Yachi Hitoka.

 _This won’t do,_ Oikawa thinks to himself as he feels his lips stretching a smile at a struggling Yachi beneath him, _I’m never going away for a whole week for a practice match ever again._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter is short -- sorry for the filler! Next chapter will finally feature some MOVEMENT in the plot. 
> 
> Thanks for leaving kudos and reading, and comment your thoughts on the story so far! I'd love to hear them. :)


	6. her in someone else's scarf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Work-out._

Most students would agree that lunchtime was usually the one hour during their school day that they’d look forward to the most.

Lunchtime was, after all, a chance for students to refuel their energy and, most importantly, it was an hour of bonding with friends.

For Yachi, lunchtime had become an hour that she’s grown to dread. To her, it meant an hour of trying to find a place to eat, of navigating through crowds of people who would talk loudly and have fun, and of feeling uncomfortable to be eating in front of others. Thus, more often than not, she found it to be much more comforting to take out her neatly assorted bento at her desk in the classroom, or on a lonesome-looking bench behind the school building than to eat in the school cafeteria. In a way, Yachi had become a bit like a mouse ever since she didn’t have Oikawa around to eat with her during this hour. Oikawa, who was once always there to steal her food and say something stupid to make her laugh, became a void that Yachi had to fill with the sound of birds that she would encounter while eating her lunch outside, or by watching whatever club was having their practice through the window in the classroom.

One would expect Yachi to have at least a few friends to eat with her during lunch, since, after all, she was in a whole different grade from Oikawa to begin with. But Oikawa had managed to somehow always be there. And although he'd always use the excuse of it being convenient to steal food from Yachi’s lunchbox rather than bringing his own, Yachi knew him enough to see through the stupid smirk that he’d give her whenever he’d knock on her classroom window.

He’d been spoiling her—the worry was never vocalized, but she’d known that he’d always been around for lunch break because he knew her just as well.

Having Oikawa for company during lunch break was both a blessing and a curse; it was a blessing because it was Oikawa, which was more than enough of an explanation—as in, there was no need for one. But it was also a curse, because Yachi felt like a burden. Unlike herself, Oikawa was popular. He had friends in his class, and on top of that, he had volleyball. 

Not to mention all the jealous stares she'd get from all the girls. Being Oikawa Tooru's childhood friend whom he stuck to like glue, it was nothing new to get bitter glances from the girls at her school. But with Oikawa being there to distract her from them, it wasn't until her last year of middle school that she really felt them boring holes in the back of her head.  
  
  
Needless to say, Yachi’s last year of middle school wasn’t fun. Often being alone until she finally got back home to see Oikawa’s stupid, pouting face, Yachi had found a thin balance between feeling alright with and without him around. 

  
Yachi chose Karasuno to challenge herself more—to change her aggressively introverted ways and start to put herself more out of her comfort zone. But change needed to become a habit first, and habits needed time.

 _Time—_ that’s what she needed. Or so she thinks rather miserably as she slowly takes out her lunchbox from her tote bag on her classroom desk. Feeling disappointed in how not much had changed since middle school, Yachi yields a long sigh as she stares out the open window. Although she had made a few friends that were the same class as her, it was still much more comfortable for her to eat alone. After all, she didn’t want to burden anyone with her presence, or burden others to ask her to join them. It was just easier this way, and as many would say; old habits die slow.

But just when Yachi was about to make herself more comfortable to eat her lunch, Kageyama Tobio, who Yachi thought was ignorant towards everyone and everything around him, had taken notice of her eating alone during lunch, and had dragged Hinata with him to convince her to join them for lunch.

“It’s cold to sit by an open window.” He’d said with an expression that made him look slightly constipated (his thinking face, Yachi thinks it is).

“But I—"

“This idiot is trying to ask you to join us for lunch.” Hinata had then translated Kageyama’s words for her, earning him a smack to the back of his head. Squealing at Kageyama’s sudden attack, Hinata grimaces and shoots him a glare, which Kageyama completely ignores and instead turns to Yachi to finish what he was trying to say in the first place.

“I know we’re in different classes and all, but you can always come to our classroom if you’re alone during lunch.” He blurts, his words slightly slurring from the immense concentration he put into them.

It was weird, to have been given an assurance like this from someone. Yachi had never thought of being alone as that big of an issue, but just like a lot of things that regarded oneself, it usually took more than yourself to make you realize how things really were. Her mother always told her, that it takes a second, a breath, and a step back to see the entire picture regarding things that seemed difficult. But this had never quite become Yachi’s forte despite her mother’s attempt of being encouraging. Considering all the overthinking that she does even before ordering a meal, it was safe to say that Yachi probably still had a tad bit to reach her mother’s confidence.

Yachi didn’t mind being alone during lunch—she really didn’t. But the volleyball duo helped her realize that she wasn’t as miserable as she’d thought of herself to be. It took time to get over change, and it took change to realize this.

For the very first time, lunch had become more about talking about random things than to get a grape on a fork. Lunchbreak turned into fun conversations and silly jokes and observing the famous volleyball duo’s ridiculous arguments. It was comforting to be alone sometimes, yes—but it doesn’t hurt to be amongst people who genuinely made you happy, even if Yachi’s self-deprecating guilt was saying otherwise.  
  


"That's all you're eating?" Kageyama asks on a particular lunch break when he’d seen Yachi’s lunchbox containing almost less than half of what was in his own. His face was stuffed with food as he’d asked this, which rightfully earned him a judging glare from Tsukishima, who’d together with Yamaguchi joined them for lunch.

Coach Ukai had once said, in a tone as if describing an animal in the wild, that it was important for an athlete to feed every three hours in order to have enough fuel for volleyball, but the amount of food in Kageyama's lunchbox was almost three times the amount on Yachi's own, and it was making her question whether the coach had missed out the _tiny_ detail of also having to eat in moderate proportions. Nevertheless, Yachi gulps away the intimidating sight of Kageyama’s impressive bento and answers him with a sheepish smile.

“This is enough for me,” she answers as she pokes her rice around with her chopsticks. “I’m not that hungry.”

Kageyama halts his spoon that was about to stuff food in his mouth and faces the little blonde with huge eyes. “N-Not hungry? Why? Are you not feeling well?”

“That’s unusual of you, to worry about someone.” Tsukishima snickers on the side, making Kageyama shoot a glare at him.

“It’d be bad if our manager was sick.”

“You could’ve just said Yacchan,” Hinata sing-songs, and dodges a smack to the head from Kageyama.  
  


Yachi takes in the scene before her. Casual bickering, friends who were laughing. Never in a million years would she have thought that she’d be able to be a part of such a high school-esque thing. To think that it had become routine for her to sit with the first years of the volleyball team was the last thing she’d expected to happen, and she was absolutely over the moon for how _fun_ it was for once—for not needing to worry about being in the way for others.

But how nice it would’ve been, if—

(If Oikawa was here.)

A small sigh escapes her lips at the thought, but deciding to remind herself again that  _change was a process_ , Yachi looks up to the boys with her small palms waving in front of her face to assure them that she was alright. “Don’t worry! I’m fine, really! Thanks for worrying. I’m just not hungry, is all.”

Out of nowhere, Kageyama suddenly slams his palms to the lunch table, which startles everyone around it.

One would’ve mistaken it for him or lashing out if it wasn’t for his blushing face and awkward stuttering.

“T-There's a lot of things that might cause a loss of appetite, Yachi-san! Don’t take it so lightly! You could be experiencing early symptoms of a cold, or dehydration, or your p-pe…”, he pauses, and continues then with huge, urgent eyes, “PER-“

“Kageyama.” A firm, deep voice suddenly calls for the raven-haired boy, making the first-years turn their heads. It was Sawamura, who was standing with his arms crossed and eyebrow cocked. Kyoko and Sugawara stood right behind him, both wearing expressions on their faces that resembled something like the disappointment of once hopeful parents.

But Yachi wasn’t offended, or embarrassed. Heck, she’d barely processed what Kageyama had said, until it hits her, and suddenly she can’t stop laughing.

What an absolute _dork._

  
\---

 

When the school day finally ends and Yachi finally puts on her phone again, she discovers that it had become mercilessly blasted with texts from a relentlessly bored Oikawa, who’d come home early because of his volleyball practice having had ended much earlier than expected.

 _I’m going to kidnap you if you don’t text me back,_ he’d texted her on the last message, making her roll her eyes as a smile reaches her lips.

Kageyama, who’d accidentally come across the rare sight of Yachi’s candid laugh, snakes his way behind her to ask, “Is it Oikawa-san?”

Having had thought that she was alone by the lockers by now that practice had ended, Yachi shrieks in surprise and drops her phone to the ground. Kageyama almost shrieked with her, but thankfully, his reflexes to pick up her phone was faster.

"Dang—sorry.” He apologizes while handing back her phone, his hand scratching the back of his head embarrassedly.

"That's alright," Yachi laughs sheepishly as she takes her phone back, "and yes it was! You remember him?"

 Kageyama pauses a moment, and nods. Of course he remembers who Oikawa Tooru was. He was the ace and captain of his team—an unreachable mountain of skill who was both flexible and intelligent in every aspect when it came to his games.

“I do,” Kageyama replies simply, and puts his hands in his pockets. It was a bit awkward talking to Yachi without a volleyball in his hand. They’d been practicing his serves together for a while now, and although they were still not quite on a first name basis, Kageyama felt comfortable around her.

Maybe it was because they’d come from the same middle school.

An awkward silence passes through them. They’d just ended their frequent sessions of floating serves, and for them to be alone together like this was quite unusual considering how Hinata had always somehow managed to squeeze himself between them. Considering how awkward Kageyama and Yachi were individually at times, Hinata had become something of a catalyst between them.

“You know, Kageyama-kun,” Kageyama suddenly hears her say in a small voice, breaking him from his trail of thoughts, “thanks.”

“For what?” he asks, and he was genuinely curious. There wasn’t a single thing that he could recall that was worthy of being thanked for. If anything, he should be the one thanking her, for always staying behind during practice to help him with his serves.

“Just…” Yachi takes a deep breath before looking up to Kageyama, "for letting me join you guys for lunch.” Yachi breathes as she looks up to him with pink-dusted cheeks. It sounded much better in her head when she’d rehearsed the lines that she'd just spoken to herself quietly earlier, but when the words were spoken, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. They were, after all not kindergarteners. Thanking a potential friend (potential, because Yachi Hitoka doesn’t dare to assume) for eating lunch together was such a trivial matter that she almost feels stupid.

But trivial things don’t need to be unimportant. Kageyama wasn’t very good with his own feelings, especially when it came to expressing them into words. But facts were to state as facts, and what he decides to respond with was, to him, just a fact. A mere detail that couldn’t have happened otherwise.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, feeling slightly shy that Yachi was staring at his face for so long, “everyone wanted you there.”

Yachi blinks.

With slightly red cheeks that were hidden in the evening dark, Kageyama adds, “Me too.”

“Huh?”

“I wanted you to be there, too.” He adds, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, I was alone a lot during middle school, too, so I get it.”

 _That’s right,_ Yachi thinks. During their last year of middle school, Kageyama had become ostracized by his team. She’d seen the match because Oikawa had wanted to see it.

Yachi had always had the impression that Kageyama was an intimidating boy who responded aggressively towards everything—which, of course, wasn’t to say that that didn’t hold true after having had gotten to know him better. But he wasn’t merely as selfish as he’d seemed on the court on that day. Kageyama just wanted to do the very thing that made him happy; play volleyball. His focus was so intense that he’d forgotten about the ones around him.

Yachi remembers that, during the very same year of them being third years in middle school, Kageyama would quite often be alone during lunch—much like herself. But unlike herself, it seemed like the stares that he’d gotten from his past teammates didn’t affect him one bit.

Or maybe it did, and if it did, he didn’t let it show. 

Now that she's gotten to know him better, he was, surprisingly, not as hard to talk to as she’d originally thought. He was often in his own head a lot, or sometimes completely out if head depending on the situation, but every word that she’d spoken, every shy suggestion that she’d given him, he’d take with full attention.

He might’ve been the lone King during middle school, but he was changing.

And as should she.

“It wasn’t until recently that I started eating with others during lunch,” Kageyama says, which brings Yachi back to earth from her chain of thoughts that were going through her head. But before Yachi could respond, Kageyama abruptly halts his steps and turns to Yachi, who almost bumps into him.

"You know, it's kind of late," Kageyama states as he starts to kick at nothing. "Maybe I should take you home."

This makes Yachi start to fret. "Oh no- you don't have to do that! I—”

"I should take you home." Kageyama then declares, and unwraps his scarf from his neck and around Yachi. "Also, borrow this,” he says as the wind blows in their faces, “it's cold."

Feeling the knitted scarf wrapping around her burning cheeks, Yachi finds herself giggling at the awkward raven-haired boy as he struggles to find the end of his scarf around his own neck.

 

 ---

 

Halfway towards arriving outside Yachi’s apartment complex, the two of them suddenly sees a white and turquoise track-suit running towards them. 

It was, of course, no other but-

"HITOK—”

A violent halt makes a screeching noise from the curly brunette’s shoes, who felt his soul slowly leaving his body upon the sight of—

“Kageyama Tobio,” Oikawa says, the grimace on his face looking like the name he’d just spoken had sounded like a screech to his ears.

“Tooru!” Yachi beams, her short legs hurrying to meet with the tall brunette. Upon seeing what Oikawa was wearing, though, her face immediately scrunches up. “It’s so cold! What on earth are you doing in _shorts?”_

Still not quite sure whether the scene before him was real, Oikawa utters a guttural reply that was nearly incomprehensible.

“I was about to you pick you up—"

"That's alright, Oikawa-san," Kageyama suddenly says as his hand moves faster than his mind registers what he was doing. Lightly tugging Yachi's sleeve, Kageyama points to the road behind them with his free hand. "You can continue your work-out. I'll send Yachi-san home."

With her head being too much in the clouds of how confusing the situation was turning, Yachi pats her childhood friend's shoulder a few times to assure him what she had assumed to be worrying about her being alone with someone that she wasn't familiar with.

"I'm okay! Or I'll be okay, since Kageyama-kun's here and all. Don't let me be in the way of your work-out!"

 _Work out._ Did it look like he was jogging? Although to be fair, he probably always looked like he was out jogging, considering how he wore his practice clothes more than his uniform sometimes.  
  


Feeling defeated, Oikawa bends down to his knees to hide his frustration by ruffling his hair violently when the two were out of his sight. 

All things that Oikawa holds dearly, and in memory of their relationship has always been kept in a box for her heart to keep. All their shared memories. All of it—were they now going to be replaced with new ones? 

 

And with  _him?_

 

 _Work-out,_ Oikawa bitterly thinks with a scoff as his mind flashes back to the scarf around Yachi's neck. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that have birthed quite a long chapter, sorry for that. If you'd like, do share your thoughts with me on the chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts. :) And, as always, thanks to those who leave comments, kudos and for reading!


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